We're Not Serious
by Rawiyah
Summary: Starfire and Robin start to question their love for one another when a new villain who is all too familiar to Robin is re-introduced… and he's brought along with him, a loyal girlfriend… who is equally as destructive and dangerous.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Starfire and Robin start to question their love for one another when a new villain who is all too familiar to Robin is re-introduced… and he's brought along with him, a loyal girlfriend… who is equally as destructive and dangerous.

This duo threatens not only the safety of the citizens, but also the relationship between Starfire and Robin.

The Joker and Harley Quinn wreak havoc in the city… as well as in the hearts of Starfire and Robin. They used to believe that love could defeat anything… but how can they defeat this, if they are beginning to doubt their own love?

* * *

**Chapter One: Step Right Up**

The sound of the organ continued to fill the air as well as the sweet smell of buttery popcorn. The circus grounds were filled with colors, everything from the soft pink of the cotton candy to the bright, red nose of the clowns were present. Children laughing brought a filling of warm fuzzies into the hearts of every adult who heard it. This was a good day.

Starfire smiled as she was escorted through the carnival grounds by Robin. She turned her head, trying to make her pinkish cheeks less noticeable.

"Hey, Star… Look at this." He pointed out to an enormous tent, with loud music and whistling coming from the open hole. Light streamed out from said hole and through it there was a very visible large crowd. Starfire cocked her head to the side in curiosity.

"What is it?" She asked before glancing at him with wide, emerald eyes.

"Seems curious to have at a circus… I've never seen that tent here before last year… or the year before." He looked back at the tent, and an eerie feeling shot up from his toes and straight up to his spine. "Let's check it out…"

Starfire nodded obediently and the slowly made their way over to the new tent. As they approached the tent, the whistling became louder and it became more obvious that this crowd was made up of all, if not, mostly, men. The tent doors were wide open, but there was such a large crowd of men that neither Starfire nor Robin could see inside.

Suddenly, a man appeared standing next to the side of the open tent door. He was short… and balding. He seemed, old. Too old to be working at the circus, at least. In the corner of his mouth laid a cigarette and smoke clouds formed over his round, shiny head. He turned to Robin and coughed into his hand a few times. After his coughing fit, he extended his arm to him with an open palm.

"This is a show that ain't free fer nobody, Good Sir." His voice was rough, and Robin could smell the heavy alcohol on his breath. He coughed again and smoke came from his parted lips. "That's five doll'rs a ticket."

"… No thank you." Robin's nose wrinkled in disgust as the man's smoke blew from his nostrils. "We're just curious as to what's going on in there. I've never seen this tent here any other year." Robin glanced through the open doors again and peered around the crowd of men. "Is this… a new show?" He asked hesitantly.

"Oh yes." The old man responded. He paused to take a long drag of his shrinking cigarette. He let out a sigh and a stream of smoke blew from his nostrils and formed a cloud above his head once more. "In there is a new dancer 'ere… goes by Harley Quinn."

"Harley Quinn?" Robin repeated. Starfire stepped up and spoke to the old man.

"So all of this…" She gestured towards the crowd of whistling men who were shouting and clapping, "… this is all just a dance?"

"…ehh…" The man raised his hand and shook it, making a 'so-so' gesture. "It's not really a dance…"

"Sounds more like a striptease." Robin murmured softly.

Starfire either did not hear him, or pretended to ignore his comment. "Ah, I see." She said and she nodded to Robin and to the man, as though she felt good about the new attraction. "Thank you, Good Sir! We'll be on our way." She gently tugged at the crook of Robin's arm and she began to drag him away.

As they were walking in the opposite direction of the new tent, Robin continued to mumble beneath his breath about how odd it was for them to move in a new attraction… above all… a new attraction that was of a strangely obscene nature. He felt in the pit of his stomach that something was off.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted at him playfully. She fully sensed the slight discomfort he was feeling and it pained her inside to know how he felt. This was their day to relax… wind back… let it all go… Chill Out! As they earthlings would have said. Though of course, there was no ice, and it was in fact, a rather hot night. "Look!" She pointed to the sky and the stars were glittering very dimly. Especially with all of the lights of the carnival… it almost seemed to put the natural light of the stars to shame.

"Stars." Robin spoke. He smiled gently and pulled Starfire into a close embrace. "I'm sorry I'm so worked up, Kor.(*)" He whispered to her. "… I'm just… you know?" Starfire cut him off with a soft kiss and she waved her hand.

"Let's go have fun."

...

Robin smiled and followed her to the Ferris wheel where they usually had their "fun" discussions.

As their ride was nearly over as well as their conversation… they were caught off guard by loud, obnoxious, yet… seductive female laughter and immediately, Robin's head turned towards the new tent. A voice… a sweet, seductive woman's voice came ringing throughout the entire carnival.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Step right up! Step Right up! To the most Amazing Show…" Her voice trailed off and became fuzzy with static. As though she were speaking over a loud speaker. "Witness something you've never seen before, Heard before, DREAMT before!..." Static overtook her once more, "The Most Amazing Show!" A loud "BOOM" filled the ears of both Robin and Starfire and again, the laughter rang.

Screaming followed the laughter… and then, the heinous spurting sound of liquid… Robin bit his lower lip and he could tell… it wasn't a water bottle that had just spilled.

"Titans, Go!" He yelled and he jumped out of their cart and began to run to the tent. Starfire quickly followed in suit, though she was the only Titan that was with him. She jumped into the air and flew with all hast after Robin.

As they entered the tent, there they saw what looked like a battlefield. There were countless bodies lying across the hay… and there were fresh, goopy blood stains covering all walls of the tent. In the center of the ring… there stood a woman. A beautiful, shapely woman wearing a jester costume of red and black. On her left breast and on her right thigh there were the four suits of cards… Each to the contrast of the other. Red Hearts and Red Diamonds were on her thigh where the black dominated her costume, while the Black Spade and the Black Clover sat on her breast where red was more present. She had no visible hair, as it was all covered by a red and black jester hat with large, white puffs on each end. Her skin was oddly pale and covered in coats of make up and her lips… Very full and painted with a glossy tar colored black.

She laughed again and Robin's face contorted with anger.

"Who are you?!" He yelled as he ran up to her and leaned over into a defensive stance.

"Ha. That doesn't matter. But I'll tell you this, I know you… Robin." Her glossy black lips curled into a smirk and she threw her arm into the air… She was holding something in her hand and Robin couldn't tell whether it was something threatening or not. She giggled softly and threw down the object with such force that the hay beneath it had risen from the ground upon contact. Robin waited, and it seemed to last an eternity before anything happened. All of a sudden, an enormous "BOOM" can out of the object and the entire tent lit up in flames.

"Robin!" Starfire's voice echoed off the slick walls of the tent. Robin coughed and slowly peered through the thick smoke. The shadows casted by the cape that he had draped over himself made it even harder for him to see. His eyes brightened, however, when he finally saw the two glowing lights of Starfire's eyes. "Robin!" She screamed again as she had finally located him.

After a few long moments of screaming and running… the smoke cleared and the mysterious jester woman was gone.

* * *

Author's Note:

This is a fanfic that I started many, many years ago. I probably started this is 2011 and I stopped working on it in 2011, I came back to it in 2013 for one chapter and now I'm back working on it more.

I haven't been too inspired to write anything new lately. And I really, really want to write because a lot of stuff has been happening to me lately and I feel if I get back into the hang of writing again, it might give me some sort of outlet. So here goes.

I'm also in a computer limbo. I got a new computer and for some reason it's not letting me put Word on here so I'm stuck with crappy Wordpad. I also wrote all of these chapters in Microsoft Word, so it'll probably take me a while to proofread and edit the chapters accordingly.

Anyway, same as always, R&amp;R

* I use Starfire's full name interchangeably. So, sometimes the other Titans will call her Koriandr, Kori, Kor, etc.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Starfire and Robin start to question their love for one another when a new villain who is all too familiar to Robin is re-introduced… and he's brought along with him, a loyal girlfriend… who is equally as destructive and dangerous.

This duo threatens not only the safety of the citizens, but also the relationship between Starfire and Robin.

The Joker and Harley Quinn wreak havoc in the city… as well as in the hearts of Starfire and Robin. They used to believe that love could defeat anything… but how can they defeat this, if they are beginning to doubt their own love?

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Joke's On You**

Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven all sat pondering this strange turn of events… Sure, there has been a decline in crime in the city… and it was bound to come by once again. But this? What was this…? A joke?

It was even more ironic that the woman who was committing the crimes was dressed as a harlequin jester.

"She didn't seem as though she had any special powers." Starfire shyly spoke up, "She could possibly not even be a threat and we're just over estimating her."

"Yeah. That could be true… You said she was wearing a harlequin jester costume?" Beast Boy inquired.

"Sounds like just your average criminal trying to sound hardcore." Cyborg smirked at that. "I'll bet she doesn't realize that dressing up just makes you look stupid, not cool." Robin turned his head to give a piercing stare to Cyborg, and he shuddered… "I mean… if you're a villain. It's totally cool for superheroes."

Robin shrugged it off and turned to Starfire. "…I don't think that she was just any other villain. Not only did her outfit seem strangely familiar… but she knew my name." Robin leaned down and ran his gloved fingers through his thick, greasy, black hair. "She could possibly have dangerous information… or know someone with dangerous information."

"Dude!" Beast Boy perked up and chuckled a little, "It's not exactly like we have secret identities or something… almost everyone knows your name. And your face…"

"… And your costume!" Starfire added.

"No." Robin quietly spoke between his teeth. "There was a different air about her…"

"Robin." There it was. The cool, indifferent voice of Raven. "I'm starting to agree with them, I think you are over-estimating this…" She glanced outside, towards the windows, passed the lights of the city and the sky… "We should wait until another attack occurs… then maybe we will see what she knows."

Robin could not argue about that. So, he had no choice but to wait until the clown woman would strike again.

...

Only about a week since the first incident, yet the Titans were already informed of a sideshow gone wrong and a huge massacre was breaking out on circus grounds. As expected, they made it to the circus grounds and looked around… everyone who wasn't dead or dying had fled and there was little to no signs of life anywhere.

The smell of fresh blood was steaming up as though mist in the air and Starfire had to cover her nose to avoid its stench.

"Okay, group…" Robin whispered. "Split up. You all know who to look for."

They split, each member going a separate way. As they all traveled through the ruins of the circus, they found it hard to avoid stepping on some newly hacked limb or a dead body. As much as they wanted to call out to someone for reassurance… no one dared to utter a word. Each member was too frightened to even whisper.

A sudden fit of laughter broke out over the circus grounds and was static once more, as though spoken through a microphone or a loud speaker.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…" It called. A seductive, feminine voice. It's her! "Step Right Up! Step Right Up!" She cooed. The sound faded to static and the Titans waited a while with their bodies balanced on their toes. The sound seemed to fade to nothingness at first, until it was reintroduced into their ears again, only this time it was coming from an empty carnival tent. "Witness something you've never seen before…." Her voice died out from being overtaken by static again, but regardless, the Titans were all headed towards that tent, each was preparing themselves for whatever lay on the other side.

Robin did not hesitate to pull back the curtains and as he did each of the titans gaped in a mix between disbelief and shock at what they saw.

There she was, the clown woman. Her tight, shiny jester suit seemed to sparkle in the dim light and it showed her curvious shape. Her lips were painted ever so slightly off her lips, making it appear as though her smile would of on forever. She was sitting on someone's lap… whose lap it was, no one could tell, because the person had their back facing the Titans. They saw the woman's face very clearly though, as she was holding the microphone and laughing to the person who held her. She patted his back and the Titans could see the woman's long arm over his shoulder.

She paused then shot a glance at the Teen Titans over the person's shoulder. "Ah…!" She smiled and the painted grin seemed to grow ten times more. "You've come back to me!" She tilted her head and the little white puffs on her jester hat dangled elegantly. She then turned to the person who was supporting her with their lap. "Puddin'…" She kissed their cheek. "We've got company…"

The chair in which they were sitting had begun to turn itself and they moved. The messy green hair that was on the back of the person's had was now fully visible and now a face was appearing too. Before they were even turned all of the way, they could see a powdery, white substance on the man's face… that and some kind of sticky red scars on the edges of his mouth. He turned to face them head on and Robin's eyes widened from under his mask. The man's hair was thin, and appeared wet and stringy… strangely too, his hair was dark, seaweed green. His eyes? They seemed to be sunken in, and they were heavily coated with a dark black make-up of some sort. Robin's lip curled up into a snarl and he spat at the ground.

The woman laughed and the man in the chair laughed along with her. He then paused and stared at Robin,

"Why so serious, Son?" He asked.

* * *

Author's Note:

Normally my chapters are a lot longer...

I'm wondering why I wrote this story this way, but I wrote this a long time ago, so I don't know what was going through my head at the time. Oh well.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Starfire and Robin start to question their love for one another when a new villain who is all too familiar to Robin is re-introduced… and he's brought along with him, a loyal girlfriend… who is equally as destructive and dangerous.

This duo threatens not only the safety of the citizens, but also the relationship between Starfire and Robin.

The Joker and Harley Quinn wreak havoc in the city… as well as in the hearts of Starfire and Robin. They used to believe that love could defeat anything… but how can they defeat this, if they are beginning to doubt their own love?

* * *

**Chapter Three: You're In Carny Land Now**

Robin was so flabbergasted… he had recognized this man with the face of a joker…

The woman went into another seductive fit of laughter, and all of the Titans prepared themselves for battle.

"I thought we got rid of you a long time ago…" Robin started.

"That's the problem…. You thought." He turned to kiss the woman on the cheek and she continued laughing.

"Look," Robin started again; his voice was calmer now than before… "I'll give you ten seconds to get out of this town if you want to avoid certain death."

The woman laughed even harder now and she turned to give a toothy grin at Robin.

"Boy, I didn't even think they made 'em this stupid here, Puddin'." The Titans looked confused, not sure whether or not they should feel threatened or not. The woman only smirked and she moved to unbutton the Joker's long, velvety, purple jacket. She pulled the large flap open to reveal a beautiful set of bombs… And much to the Titans disappointment, these bombs weren't cheap or ineffective. The woman laughed again. "If you dare touch us..." She paused to hold up a ring with a string attached to it. "I'll blow everyone off the face of the earth. You see, Roby… we ain't afraid of certain death."

Robin did not know what to say… none of the Titans did. Well, they could do the world a favor and get rid of the Joker by blowing themselves up… but then the world would also be more prone to crime without the Teen Titans. It was too heavy of a decision for Robin to make and he slowly began to back away.

"Yeah… That's right! Run away, John Law!" The woman teased.

"Harley…" The joker turned to kiss her cheek again, "No need to tease the boy."

Robin's cheeked flushed bright red from his frustration and instead of turning back to give orders to his team, he simply turned around and ran out of the circus tent.

Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg all looked at each other with shock, confusion, and terror. Robin was not one to run out on a fight.

Another fit of laughter rang out as both the Joker and Harley Quinn were laughing.

"Get lost now, puppies… This is an adult show." He turned around and completely ignored the team from this point on. He and Harley shared a beautifully romantic kiss As the Titans prepared for their exit, Starfire glanced at the clownish couple and she couldn't help but feel the pang of jealously… Why couldn't Robin hold me like that…?

...

"We've got two psychotic killers… both are completely unafraid of death..."

"Then why don't we just kill them now?" Beast Boy chewed his bottom lip impatiently.

"Because then, Beast Boy…" Robin began again, "We'd be the ones committing the crime."

"Hey, police kill criminals all the time, haven't you heard of capital punishment?"

"That's not the point" Robin was loosing his temper.

"Then what is the point…? We can't continue to let this freaky joker man and his crazy girlfrien' to ruin the city." Cyborg commented.

"They're right, Robin… what choice do we have?" Raven emerged out of nowhere from the shadows as they sat around the table discussing their plan of action.

"We can't kill them without setting the entire city to flames." Robin forced himself to stay calm. "The Joker constantly wears a jacket full of enough explosives to blow this city flat to the ground three times over… And Harley is constantly there to pull the trigger in case he dies before she does…" Robin shook his head in frustration. "I'm not going to lie… they may be doing this for fun… but if they get busted for this, so does the rest of the population."

Starfire just sat there at the table absent-minded while the rest of the group discussed this strange plan of separating the Joker from Harley Quinn. As the discussion heated up, and the time flew out of the window, Starfire's mouth dropped slowly as she continued to be haunted by the image of Harley and the Joker sharing a passionate kiss. Neither of them were ashamed to kiss… _why is Robin ashamed of me? Does he not… love me? Is that was love is…? Willing to die for each other? Willing to die together…? What is love…?_ (A/N: Baby don't hurt me…)

"Kori!" Robin snapped. Starfire blinked and suddenly her train of thought had crashed and everything fell to pieces. She looked around as though woken from a trance and she could not remember the last thing she heard them talking about.

"I'm sorry…" She whimpered out softly, "I do believe I was what you would call 'day-dreaming'."

"We have no time for that now!" Robin stood from his chair and leaned across the table to shout directly at Starfire. "We have two psychotic serial killers out there and all you can do is daydream?!" Starfire's head lowered and she looked at her lap shamefully. "God! Why are you so godamn useless?" Robin pushed back the chair that he was sitting in and he stormed out of the meeting and headed through the long, gray hallways. The other Titans just stared at the empty hallway where Robin had left through… Their mouths were wide open and their eyes were wide.

Starfire sniffed.

...

"Puddin'~" Harley cooed. "We shore showed them, huh?" She jittered around franticly with exhilaration. They were, after all, the most feared villains. Weren't they?

"Oh yes." Was his response.

"Puddin'…" Harley came up behind him and gently began to rub his shoulders. The fabric of his velvety purple jacket scraped against the leather of Harley's gloves. "How are ya feelin', Puddin?"

"Feeing good enough."

"We did good today." She purred as she gently nuzzled her nose against his neck. His skin twitched at the warmth of her breath, "We had lots of fun scares and a good amount of blood was shed today." She smirked as she drew away from him, "We shore put a smile on there faces."

The Joker smirked as well, but showed little to no interest in her at all.

"Get out." He spat.

"But, Puddin…."

"Get out!" He yelled and lashed out at Harley Quinn. Again, his yelling turned into pushing, and his pushing turned into slaps, and his slaps became punches. Harley ended up leaving in the same fashion she left every night they went on a killing spree. He'd lash out at her for doing one little thing wrong, and he'd beat her and she sleep outside.

She was always confused. Their love was so romantic. She loved him with her entire being… She was willing to give up her life for him, yet he could only repay her with a good beating every now and then.

Ohh… but when he wasn't beating her… ohh, their romance was amazing. His love making was so wonderful. When they shared a bed together, she could feel happiness showering in sparks of energy from her head to her toes. "Hm… Mr. Jay…"

She wasn't sure anymore if this was worth it.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry I haven't really been updating this frequently. This is another chapter I wrote back in 2011.

I edited it a little, but not much. If you find any mistakes or have any questions, please feel free to leave me a PM or a review. I always appreciate reviews, even if they're silly ones. :)

\- Rawiyah


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Starfire and Robin start to question their love for one another when a new villain who is all too familiar to Robin is re-introduced… and he's brought along with him, a loyal girlfriend… who is equally as destructive and dangerous.

* * *

**Chapter Four:**

"Robin...?" Starfire was almost not even heard as she stood in the doorway of Robin's room. The lights were dim and he was busily working away at some files he'd forgotten to organize the night before. They were all of his files on the Joker. He currently had nothing on 'Harley Quinn', however, and that was what was upsetting him so much.

"What, Star?"

"I'm..." Starfire began, but the words died on her tongue. She couldn't explain what she wanted to say and she was worried she'd offend Robin and end up making him even more agitated than he already was. She sighed heavily, finally deciding on what to say and praying silently that it was the right choice of words. "I want to apologize to you, Robin. I did not mean to upset you yesterday with my 'daydreaming'."

She waited for a response, but Robin made no noise to confirm that he had even heard what she said. Starfire lowered her head, she wasn't sure if Robin was ignoring her or if he was truly so caught up in his own work that he did not hear her, but either way, she took the silence as a rejection of her apology. She waited another moment, just in case Robin might say, "What was that, Starfire? I didn't hear you..." But nothing came. She took this as a chance to take her leave. Though, she did not want to leave without her apology being accepted, she felt there wasn't much choice for her at this point.

She left.

...

In her room, Starfire laid on the bed, crying. She didn't know what else to do and it felt so wrong, for her to be so strong, yet feel so weak.

"X'hal..." She said, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "What has become of me?!" She looked over to the window, not really seeing anything but her past flashing before her eyes. The memories of being a slave to the Citadel, the memories of being tortured, raped, beaten... She thought to herself, how miraculous that she'd survived! She survived and she was even stronger than she was before! She wouldn't let this break her, not now... not after all she'd been through.

"I do not need to prove myself worthy to Robin!" She exclaimed to the window. (But really, it was to herself.) "I do not need Robin." Her voice was nothing more than a soft whisper now... "I do not need him anymore."

The sudden sound of the Titan's crime alert shook Starfire from her thoughts.

...

The next attack was expected, yet, not so much. It was just Harley Quinn this time, and she wasn't doing much this time, just a typical robbery, which, seemed unusual to the Titans... Harley Quinn, the evil, twisted girlfriend of the equally dangerous Joker, was doing simple burglary? Regardless, a crime was still a crime and she needed to be punished accordingly.

Starfire noticed that Harley Quinn seemed different this time... She seemed clumsy, desperate even, as she was quickly shoving hundred dollar bills into her burlap sack. Starfire watched carefully as Harley Quinn seemed to be wild, crazed as she fumbled around the darkness for more money, she didn't even hear the Titans as they snuck up behind her.

"You don't belong here..." Robin growled and Harley froze completely for a moment. This caught Starfire's attention. Harley was so different now, something must have happened that caused this sudden change in her. "Is this really what you want, Harley?" Robin asked. "Are you sure you're prepared to go down for The Joker? He doesn't care about you. Not if he's sending you to do his dirty work."

Harley turned around and the light from the moon that shone through the broken window where she'd entered the jewelry store made the evidence of the beating The Joker had given her much more apparent. Even her clown white make up couldn't cover the swelling of her bruised eye and the blood that trickled down her chin from her split lip. She laughed, almost maniacal and pointed a rather large gun at the Titans.

"You're **wrong,** sweet cheeks." She cooed. "My puddin's _crazy_ about me!" She laughed again, her laughter so loud now that it rang throughout the small store, bouncing off the walls and it sounded as though the Titans were surrounded by laughing, crazy Harley Quinns. Her laughter came to an abrupt halt and she looked at them with wide, empty eyes. "I'll gladly take the fall for my puddin'."

"Robin..." Starfire was going to point out that Harley may be a victim of abuse, that maybe instead of being thrown in a jail, she needed to be placed in a hospital, or a shelter. People do desperate things when they are in love with someone abusive, and this was a classic case of battered spouse. Starfire had read about these things occuring, as she loved to help other women who were victims of abuse as she had been. "Robin... I..." She reached to touch his shoulder so she could whisper in his ear, hoping to be sure Harley wasn't listening to what she was going to say...

"Not now, Starfire!" Robin barked. Starfire backed away, feeling rejected once more. It was almost painful when he had one of these moods. When Robin became so focused on his job and getting the bad guy that he didn't stop to listen to reason and ask for the opinions of his teammates. "Harley Quinn, it's over!"

He lunged at Harley without giving any orders to his teammates and he left them all standing in his dust, looking confused and rather concerned for their leader. He roared as he pulled out a birdarang and made to throw it at Harley, but she opened fire at him before he could throw it.

It seemed to happen in slow motion to Starfire, she could practically see as the bullet was headed towards his body and she was just opening her mouth to scream out his name, but the sound didn't come out of her mouth quickly enough. Robin curled in on myself and hit the floor with a heavy THUD.

The sound that was meant to come from Starfire's mouth lost it's power and fell from his tongue as a soft, strained whisper. "Robin..." She flew to his side, cradling his head in the crook of her elbow. Robin was wincing, but still alive, and alive was always good.

"No, Star..." He growled. "Go after her!"

"But, Robin..."

"GO!"

Starfire didn't like being yelled at. She hated it when Robin yelled at her, it made her feel like she was inadequate, that she was always doing something wrong and Robin was never satisfied. She slowly lowered his head to the ground and didn't even notice at the other Titans had ran off to chase Harley Quinn, who'd disappeared into a cloud of smoke for a while and was later seen fleeing the crime scene in a bright, red convertible car.

As Starfire slowly floated away from Robin, she kept thinking about Harley Quinn and The Joker. It was now obvious that their relationship was not perfect... They had their flaws, but when they were together, they looked so happy. Harley had to make sacrifises to be with The Joker. She had to put up with the times that he beat her in order to experience the romance between them, which, from Starfire could tell, was electric and beautiful. Starfire didn't want to have to put up with Robin's attitude towards her to get to the romance... She didn't want to be stuck with someone who didn't truly love her as she had hoped to be loved.

Her eyes began to glow as she found herself getting angry with the thought of it all. The stress of Robin being wounded, the thoughts of worthlessness that she'd been combating along with Robin's attitude. Starfire was growing easily fed up with it.

She glanced over her shoulder and took a peek at Robin, who was just lying on the ground, still as death, a small puddle of blood pooling beneath his body. She growled and decided against going to help the Titans track Harley. Chances are, they wouldn't catch her anyway. Instead, Starfire flew to the nearest hospital to get help for Robin.

...

"You left your teammates behind?!" Robin bellowed.

"I'm sorry, Robin." Starfire was again on the brink of tears. She hated, HATED when Robin yelled at her. She did what she felt was the best thing to do and she explained that to him over and over again, but he just wasn't getting it.

"You left your teammates behind to get help for me... I was FINE, Star! I could have waited. The first priority is to get Harley Quinn and The Joker before-"

"Hey, look, man..." Cyborg cut in. "We couldn't have caught up with Harley even if Star was there. The Joker showed up and got in our way."

"Starfire is the fastest member of this team. She could have easily caught up with Harley Quinn... If she'd just put in the extra effort." Robin spat. Starfire kept her head lowered. She couldn't handle this anymore, Robin talking down to her in front of the other teammates just made her feel so much worse. She thought Robin would appreciate what she did, would realize just how much she loved him, how she couldn't imagine her life without Robin in it. She never would have thought that once the hospital staff arrived and once they'd dug out the bullet and dressed his wounds that he'd refuse their help after that. He demanded to be returned to the Titans Tower and that was where they were now... It was all in vain now. Starfire held the tears in as well as she could and she quickly flew to the door. The Titans Tower was too small...

It was raining outside, as it always seemed to do when something sad happened. Robin used to tell her a little joke that Batman would tell him when he was young and it was raining... He'd say that rain was just angels crying. Starfire had never seen an angel, but she believed anything Robin told her, and even now, as she cried and the rain kept falling, she believed it. Angels were crying because Starfire's relationship seemed to be quickly deteriorating. She tried her best to keep herself happy, to appear chipper and bright, despite all that's been happening, but Robin was doing a great job at ruining her mood.

She let the tears fall freely now, they mixed with the rain hitting her face and she let out a long, loud wail. Robin didn't love her... how could he? Starfire flew, she didn't have a particular destination in mind, she just flew... High above the city, letting the cold rain hit her bare skin. She flew until she began to feel exhausted and she landed in the middle of an empty sidewalk. She sat on the steps of a closed sandwich store and cried even harder, but she heard something that slowly stopped her tears.

Someone else was crying nearby, not as dramatic as Starfire was, but there was definitely some sniffles and soft whining. Very, very closeby. Starfire turned her head, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, who was crying. It didn't matter that Starfire was struggling, her heart always burned for people who were in pain and she always wanted to help. The sobs grew a little louder, but no matter what direction Starfire looked, she saw no one else on the sidewalk but her. She had an idea then, the sandwich store was located next to a dark alleyway, she thought it'd be empty, but there wasn't any harm to checking it out. She peered over the corner and saw nothing but a blanket of darkness, but indeed, the sobbing was coming from the darkness.

"Hello?" Starfire called. The sobbing almost stopped completely, but it actually just quieted down. "I do not wish to harm you..." Starfire said softly. "I wish to help."

"Go away." A voice said from the darkness.

Starfire approached the darkness more slowly now and lifted her hand to produce a bright, glow that radiated from her hand to light up the darkness, and there she saw Harley Quinn. Her face was stained with blood and her clown white make up was washing off on her face, running down her torn, red and black outfit. She wasn't wearing her cowl and her bleached blonde hair was tangled and stuck to her face in clumps.

"Harley..." Starfire whispered.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I give myself WAYY too many projects to work on all at the same time!

I got some inspiration to write more of this story recently. Anyway, updates to this story will probably be slow as I'm working on two other stories at the same time. LOL. Ugh, why do I do this to myself?!

Chapters might be a little bit longer. This is the first chapter that I've written for this story since 2011! I've definitely changed a little in my writing style since 2011, so here's to hoping this chapter had more in it than the others.

Anyway, I appreciate reviews. Let me know if somethings not working, or what you liked.

\- Rawiyah


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